Latex screed for Milton Keynes kitchen and bathroom refits
In the trade, latex screed means a two part compound. One part is a cement based powder; the other is a latex liquid that takes the place of the water you would normally mix in. The latex makes the cured layer slightly flexible and helps it grip bases that plain compound struggles with. It goes down thin, usually a few millimetres, so it smooths a floor rather than rebuilding it.
That makes it a refit product. On the grid square estates, much of the housing dates from the 1970s to the 1990s, so an original kitchen or bathroom may now be coming out for the second time. When the old units are lifted, the floor underneath tells the story: tiles left from one refit, vinyl glue from another, perhaps a patch of fresh concrete where a soil pipe was moved. Sheet vinyl and LVT will show each of those edges within weeks. A coat of latex ties them into one smooth surface.
Timber is a different starting point. Latex never goes straight onto bare floorboards, because boards shrink, swell and move at every joint. They are screwed down first and covered with flooring grade plywood, the joints are filled and the ply is primed before the compound is poured. In the Victorian terraces of Wolverton, where suspended timber floors are more likely, that sequence is the usual route to a bathroom ready for vinyl or safety flooring. The groundwork before any thin coat is described under floor preparation and overboarding.
Old quarry and ceramic tiles can stay, provided every one is firmly bonded. We tap across them first; any that sound hollow come up and the gaps are filled. Glazed tiles are cleaned and primed with a product made to grip a non porous face.
When latex is the wrong fix in Milton Keynes
Latex is a finishing layer, not a cure, so three questions are answered before we price it.
Does the floor move? If a timber floor bounces or creaks underfoot, latex will crack along the board lines however carefully it is mixed. Loose boards are fixed and the floor overboarded first, or the compound is not worth pouring.
Is it damp? Latex does not stop moisture coming up through a floor. In the older houses folded into the new town, such as Wolverton's Victorian terraces and the old centre of Bletchley, a missing damp proof course or membrane is more likely, and that has to be solved before any thin coat goes down. If the ground floor needs rebuilding, read about sand and cement screed in Milton Keynes.
Is it level, or just rough? A floor that drops away noticeably from one side of a kitchen to the other is out of level, and a few millimetres of latex cannot correct it. Our page on levelling compound and flatness classes explains how deeper corrections are handled, and a sunken screed may need repair instead.
The base also decides the primer. Concrete and cement screed take one kind, plywood another and glazed tiles a third. A calcium sulphate screed must have its laitance sanded off and always be primed before latex goes anywhere near it.
How we price latex screed in Milton Keynes
A fixed written price within 24 hours, once we know the area and the base. See our floor screeding cost guide.
Who lays your latex screed in Milton Keynes
K & B Screeding’s own team, led by director Donatas Bardisevicius. Founded 2019, company 12298780.
See what customers say in our Google reviews and on our testimonials page.
Latex Screed from Slough to Milton Keynes
As the crow flies, our yard in Slough is about 35.6 miles from Milton Keynes, which lies to the north. Postcodes here include MK9, MK6, MK10 and MK13, and Newport Pagnell (3.3 miles), Bletchley (3.5 miles), Leighton Buzzard (9.6 miles) and Buckingham (10.3 miles) are close by.
More on latex screed, part of our screeding services.